Kaid Benfield
Kaid Benfield is director of The Natural Resources Defense Council’s smart growth program.
I have my own blog on land development and community issues and am looking forward to contributing here, too, since there is so much common ground.
Trained as a litigation attorney, I now do research, writing, and advocacy on behalf of sustainable development. I like to write about the intersections between development, community, and the environment.
I believe that those of us in the environmental movement have an obligation to do better than we have in the past to articulate pragmatic solutions for sustainable development and to speak up in favor of them. I am unabashedly pro-development when I recognize that it provides beneficial alternatives to sprawl or conventional, unsustainable land use. We have wonderful examples from enlightened developers, architects, and planners, and they deserve to be celebrated as the environmental heroes that they are.
I won’t hesitate to criticize UNsustainable development, and I also won’t hesitate to criticize those who cloak themselves as environmentalists for selfish, anti-environmental ends. But I hope to keep the tone more positive than not.
ARTICLES IN SHELTERFORCE since jan 08
POSTS ON ROOFLINES
- Aug 30 · Help Restore Post-Katrina NOLA Neighborhoods by Tearing Down the Freeway
- Aug 14 · Instantly See Average Transportation Costs, Emissions for Any Location
- Aug 2 · Washington Post Misses the Point on Inclusionary Zoning
- Aug 1 · Tassafaronga Village: Affordable Green, Gold and Platinum in East Oakland
- Jun 15 · The Case For Rentals Over Homeownership
- Jun 4 · Had Enough of the Spill? Stop Sprawl and Support Revitalization
- Apr 29 · How Immigrants Are Revitalizing America’s Fading Suburbs
- Apr 20 · Helping Johnny (and Joanie) Walk to School
- Mar 30 · The Most Important Land Use Analysis You’ll See This Year
- Mar 16 · Using Urban Density to Support City Parks (and Vice Versa)
- Feb 15 · Greening Indy’s Redevelopment District
- Jan 18 · Inclusive Revitalization In the South Bronx: Melrose Commons
- Jan 6 · DC Population Rises While Crime Plummets
- Dec 21 · Have Yourself a Merry TRANSIT Xmas!
- Dec 2 · Habitat Retrofits Oakland Brownfield for LEED-ND Pilot
- Nov 11 · ‘Housing First’ Offers Hope for Homeless Veterans, Others
- Nov 2 · Enviros Lacking In Indianapolis Redevelopment Push
- Oct 9 · Inspiring Revitalization in the Third World: Jamaica’s Rose Town
- Sep 9 · Sustainable Revitalization For America’s Smaller Cities
- Sep 1 · Boston’s Asian CDC Creates Life and Affordability in Chinatown
- Aug 22 · It Takes a Village to Age In Place
- Aug 10 · The Smarter Cities Project Wants Your Input on Sustainability Criteria
- Jul 27 · Awesome Choice: Shelley Poticha to Take Sustainability Post at HUD
- Jul 16 · The Obama Administration’s Remarkable Week on Sustainable Cities, Smart Growth & Revitalization
- Jun 30 · Neighborhood Schools that Work for Kids, Communities, & the Environment
- Jun 23 · Revitalizing Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine (Series Conclusion - Making It Green)
- Jun 15 · Revitalizing Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine (Part 3 - the Progress)
- Jun 12 · GIS Mapping in Australia Shows How Transit Reduces Auto Dependence
- Jun 8 · Revitalizing Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine (Part 2)
- Jun 2 · Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine, On the Verge
- May 27 · The Geography of Carbon Emissions from Driving, with Maps
- May 18 · NatGeo Surveys Countries’ Transit Use: Guess Who Comes In Last
- May 12 · Federal Stimulus Threatened to Overrun Small Town with Sprawl
- Apr 28 · Considering the Role of Density in Sustainable Development
- Apr 20 · My Favorite Revitalization Story: The Rebirth Of Old North
- Apr 13 · Giving New Meaning to “Green Transit”
- Apr 10 · When the Market Recovers, Smart Growth Will Claim a Larger Share
- Mar 30 · Strong Centers Make Healthier Regions
- Mar 26 · It’s Time To Adjust To The Metropolitan Reality
- Mar 19 · HUD & DOT Team Up To Promote Sustainable Communities
- Mar 17 · Giving Community Organizing A Good Name In East Hollywood
- Mar 3 · Sprawl’s share of US housing starts has declined dramatically, says EPA
- Feb 19 · Where We Live Affects How Much We Drive and What We Can Afford
- Feb 16 · The Trailer Park as Affordable Urban Housing?
- Feb 13 · Beyond the Stimulus: Whither Communities In The Next Transportation Bill?
- Feb 10 · Two Americas On Display: DC & Las Vegas
- Jan 30 · Transforming the market for development location
- Jan 21 · To The New First Family: Welcome To My Hometown
- Jan 19 · Parks For Revitalization
- Jan 15 · Visions for Transforming America
- Dec 22 · For The Holidays: These Are a Few of My Favorite…Places
- Nov 5 · President-Elect Obama on Smart Growth, Transportation, Cities, and Regions
- Oct 14 · Smart, Sustainable Development Can Aid Economic Recovery
- Sep 22 · Portland Shrinks Carbon Footprint with Revitalization, Walkability
- Sep 5 · Katrina Documentary Gets Distribution in Wake of Gustav
National Housing Institute
